Commentary on the news, culture, sports and current events of sub-Saharan Africa from someone who's lived there.

The author served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa.

All essays are available for re-print, with the explicit permission of the author. Contact him at mofycbsj @ yahoo.com

Thursday, January 19, 2006

What has he been doing for the last 38 years?

Today, Gabon's head of state was sworn in for another seven-year term as the country's leader. In his inauguration speech, Bongo noted the following:

The expectations of my compatriots, notably employment, roads, health, education, housing, are great. The hope expressed in their vote is immense. The seven-year term that begins is thus of critical importance.

The social project that I presented to the Gabonese people clearly indicates the direction of our action. I defined its objectives, priorities and steps.

What I see in this project that I repeated throughout the year 2005 is a society based on solidarity, equity, justice and progress.

Through it, we will progressively vanquish poverty, we will combat social fracture, we will create development and we will give more substance to national unity, democracy, stability and peace.

It is thus fundamental that the action of the state fully realize the legitimate hopes of the Gabonese men and women.

This begs the question. Bongo has been in power since 1968. Why should one expected that the next seven years will be any better on those fronts than the previous 38?

1 Comments:

The only thing that one can expect of Gabon under Omar "Jimmy" Bongo is a society under total submission. This whole election scam went down without even a peep from the international MSM or any worthwhile global political organization. Was this another free-and-fair election in Gabon?

It's as if the small West-African nation of Gabon is not even there, that it does not exist for much of the world (except for China, Libya, and France perhaps). At least Bongo is not the bloodthirsty type, just fresh with the womenfolk and a bit shady with the state's money affairs.

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About Me

The author is a freelance writer and journalist who lives in upstate New York. He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Republic of Guinea (Conakry), West Africa, in the mid-90s. He is also fluent in French.
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L'auteur est un journaliste et écrivain qui habite le nord de l'Etat de New York. Il fut volontaire professeur de maths au sein du Corps de la Paix américain; il serva en République de Guinée (Conakry) en Afrique de l'Ouest dans les années 90.